A Pepys of Mongul India (1653-1708)

by Niccolao Manucci

  This was the year in which Muhammad Amin Khan gave me a lot of annoyance, for, having been ordered by the king to Kabul, as governor in place of Mahabat Khan, he wanted to take me with him by force. I made my excuses, saying I did not wish to leave Lahor.

  He left with his retinue, and finding that neither by promises nor by threats could I be made to follow him, he ordered me to be carried off by force. Thus I travelled with him for three days as far as Little

  146 MANUCCI AND MUHAMMAD AMlN KHAN

  Gujarat, crossing the river of Lahor and the river Chinab. He acted thus not only from his desire to keep me, but also because his wife so willed it. She went the length of unveiling before me her daughter's face (a most unusual thing among them), and said to me that if I would not go for her sake, at the least I might for her daughter's, whom I had brought back to health when she was very ill. I had come thus far, but never forsook the project I intended to carry out; for he who serves by compulsion can never be satisfied. Thus, the marches being at night on account of the heat, I turned back without saying a word to anyone except an Englishman, whom I told I was going to the town of Little Gujarat to buy some medicines, and if Muhammad Amin Khan should ask him about me, he was to give that answer.

  That nobleman had given an order, that no one was to be allowed to cross to the other side of the river, permitting nothing to remain on our side except the ferry boat, for conveying the couriers to and from the court; but I so took my measures that this boat was forced to carry me across, for, as I approached, I sent my servants to take possession of the boat and keep it until I arrived. I came up and ordered the boatmen to convey me across, pretending I was a courier from Mahabat Khan to the court. As soon as I had passed the river it began to dawn, and I met a body of Muhammad Amin Khan's people. When they asked me where I was going, I answered angrily that Mirza 'Abdullah being unwell the prince had sent me to treat him. Thus I got past them. I reached Lahor by fast travelling before he could overtake me on the way.

  But Muhammad Amin Khan planned a piece of treachery for my destruction. This consisted in writing to Gitar, commander of the fort and provisional governor, to his own agent (? wakil], to the kotwal, and to the gdzi, requiring them to forward me to his camp. If I refused, they were to charge me with having

  MANUCCI FALSELY ACCUSED OF THEFT 147

  stolen from him five lakhs of rupees. They knew quite well it was a false accusation, but Muhammad Amin Khan being a great man, they did not hesitate to do everything possible to have me seized. But I was not asleep, and I was tolerably versed in Mahomedan tricks, for they stick at nothing to gain success in their desires. Therefore I did not stay inside Lahor at my house, but hid myself in the gardens, moving about from one place to another in disguise. This went on for forty days, and proclamation was made, that anyone knowing where I was hid and discovering me, would be highly rewarded, and whoever concealed me in his house would be compelled to pay the five lakhs of rupees robbed by me from Muhammad Amin Khan.

  At this time Fida,e Khan, who was to succeed Muhammad Amin Khan as governor, was approaching. He was his predecessor's enemy. In advance of his own arrival he sent two hundred cavalry, conveying letters to the provisional governor, the kotwdl, and the qazi, telling them to carry on the government in his name until he should arrive. At each court of justice was posted one of Fida,e Khan's troopers to act as witness, and verify everything that took place. When I knew this I came boldly into Lahor, and had an interview with the trooper who attended the kotwdl's court, also with the man posted at the deputy governor's, telling them my story. Both men pledged me their word that they would help me, but I told them not to take action until they saw me being taken away by force to Muhammad Amin Khan. Secure of their aid if anything happened to me, I returned to my house. The kotwdl and the other officials were in fear of Muhammad Amin Khan, so the kotwdl sent for me and locked me up in prison, and three times on three different days he asked me in public audience whether I would willingly go to Muhammad Amin Khan or not. On my saying resolutely that I would not go, he said that as Muhammad Amin Khan had

  148 HE IS PROTECTED BY FIDA,E KHAN

  accounts to go into with me, I must be forced to go. My reply was that I had no sort of account with him, nor knew I aught about his jewels, for I was no official of his household, but only a Frank surgeon to whom jewels would not be made over. Seeing me thus firm, he too spoke resolutely, at the instigation of Muhammad Amfn Khan's wakil, declaring that I must absolutely go.

  They had already removed me from the audience, and were making me mount into a carriage prepared for that purpose, when the trooper whom I had already made my friend, announced openly, that if they wished to send me they might, but hereafter Fida,e Khan would have something to say to them, he having given special instructions for Hakim Nicco-lao, the Frank, to be looked after, he being his (Fida,e Khan's) private doctor. He called on everyone to bear witness, how he had made requisition on his master's behalf. Upon hearing this the kotwal got into a fright and sent for me once more, and said to me in a loud voice that the trooper had made requisition on behalf of Fida,e Khan, but the law demanded that at the very least I should produce bail for m}' person, so as to be able afterwards to justify itself against a claim by Muhammad Amfn Khan.

  Sureties were not wanting who, knowing the truth, were willing to bind themselves for me. But neither the kotwal nor the wakll would accept them as bail, warning them that in this way they would have to defend themselves from Muhammad Amm Khan, a violent and powerful man. Thus it came to pass, that all of them were afraid to do what they wished, until at last a Hindu turned up, who, in defiance of Muhammad Amfn Khan, became surety, I giving him an indemnity, and thus I was free.

  Meanwhile Mirza $alih, the son of Fida,e Khan, arrived. I visited him and paid my respects, having beforehand had some good words said to him about me, for 1 was tolerably well known in Lahor. In this

  way, when Fida,e Khan himself subsequently arrived, he (Mirza Salih) presented me to his father, by whom I was well received. I presented to him a box full of an electuary. He sent for the kotwal, and told him to take good care that no one interfered with me, and he also gave me his word to be favourable to me. This, of a truth, he was as long as he lived, and that too in things of great importance.

  AURANGZEB HAS MAHABAT KHAN POISONED

  He (Aurangzeb) ordered, as I have said, that poison should be given to him secretly; and, since he was on his way to Lahor, they told the king there was in that city a Frank physician who might cure him. For this reason there came to me a letter without any name, which stated that in no way must I afford aid to Mahabat Khan. He who brought me the letter, a man unknown to me, took me by the hand, and, pressing it, said I must pay great heed to the letter, and not to act to the contrary, and then off he went.

  Knowing that Mahabat Khan was on his way, and being on friendly terms, I sent out to him a present of some good spirits, that I had prepared myself. His doctor, who had the order to give him the poison, seized the opportunity for my ruin and his own preservation. On the day that the Nawab drank my wine he gave him the poison in an elixir, such as the Mahomedans are accustomed to take. Mahabat Khan found himself troubled with sharp pains, and suspected that there must be poison in my spirits, and that I had acted thus at the instigation of Fida,e Khan, his enemy. He sent to fetch me in the greatest haste, just as I was ready to go out for a stroll. At once I suspected something. I jumped on my horse and went off to him, he being eighteen leagues away.

  Entering the tent, I found everyone in astonishment, for they had the idea that I would never come, being, as they asserted, the culprit. He ordered the tent to be prepared for me, and a good supper, sending ii

  to entertain me several of his nephews, great friends of mine; also a captain called Mirak Ata-ullah. This man was to spy upon me, and see if I spoke with any sign of fear or surprise; but, as I was quite innocent, I spoke in my usual manner. Next morning 1 went to see Mahabat Khan again, and I asked him if he had tes
ted the spirits that I had sent, and he said he had. Thereupon I prayed the favour of his giving me a drink of it. They brought me the bottle from which he had drank. I drank, and after I had done so I gave some to his nephews, who praised the liquor. I did this to let him be satisfied that it was not my liquor that had made him bad, but some other thing. I remained with him in talk a long time, and he observed that the spirits did neither me nor his nephews any harm. He then invited me to treat him. I made excuse, saying that he was provided with his own doctor, a very wise man, and that I was not acquainted with that disease. Thus I remained with him nineteen days, and he detained me to find out if the spirits we drank did any harm, either to me or his nephews. He was obliged to let me go without being able to find from me whether he had poison in his inside or not. At my departure he conferred on me a set of robes, and sent the same captain with twenty horsemen to escort me, so that his men, who thought me the cause of his illness, should not harm me. He died a few days afterwards of fetid discharges, a sign that his bowels were ulcerated.

  Hardly had I reached Lahor when a terrible affair happened. This was that the holy man of Balkh, to whom Aurangzeb had married the daughter of Murad Bakhsh, went mad. I was treating him as such. But Fida.e Khan, being away at Peshawar, Amanat Khan was in his place. He listened to the proposals of the sorcerers, who said that the holy man was possessed by a demon, and not mad. I was obliged to abandon the treatment, Amanat Khan being aggrieved that I had taken on myself to treat a royal connection with-

  CALL TO ATTEND MURAD BAKHSH'S DAUGHTER 151

  out first of all consulting him. My answer was that, being by profession a medical man, I went to the house of anyone who sent for me, without making any distinctions; but since he did not approve of my continuing the treatment, I would that very hour quit the house and the patient.

  It happened that a few days afterwards, the sorcerers assuring him that the man was now sane and had no longer a demon in his inside, they allowed him to go for a walk with the princess and her ladies. Having a dagger in his waist-belt, he drew it, and, seizing the princess, stabbed her beneath the ribs towards the side. When the ladies and the eunuchs, on hearing her cries, ran to the spot, he killed one woman with the same dagger, and wounded another in the arm. After this he jumped into the reservoir, playing (bailando) with the dagger, and other obscenities. Then they carried away the princess in a palanquin as speedily as possible to the palace, and a eunuch came careering on horseback to my house. I was urged to make all haste ; I knew not why or wherefore. I sent an order to harness my carriage for us both to go together. But I could not extract from his mouth where it was necessary to go, until at last he told me to carry with me the remedies for the treatment of a wound that the holy man had inflicted on the princess. I protested that I could not go without the permission of the governor, because the princess was of royal blood, nor could I treat her without the king's orders. He paid no heed to those words, and most urgently entreated me not to delay, for the princess was in danger of death. He then told me the whole story.

  We started in the carriage, and he made out I was drunk, ordering the carriage to be driven with all speed, stopping for neither hucksters' stalls nor people. Everybody was amazed to see a Frank, who usually went by rather quietly, rush past so desperately. We reached the palace, and, on being told the facts as to the wound, I feared a lesion of the bowels. How-

  ever, continuing my inquiries, I found that the wounds were not mortal. I did my utmost to get an examination before I began the treatment; but the Mahomedans are very touchy in the matter of allowing their women to be seen, or even touched, by the hand ; above all, the lady being of royal blood, it could not be done without express permission from the king. Thus an examination was impossible. But I ordered them to describe the wound, and I had the dagger brought, and I saw that it was only by God's grace that it had not cut the bowels. I made my tents and plasters, mixing in them a balsam which I made; and, since the persons in the service of these great people are intelligent, I instructed them as to what they had to do. By God's help the treatment succeeded, and in eleven days I healed her completely.

  When for the first time I applied the medicine I went to the governor and reported the facts. This was to prevent his expressing surprise afterwards, on hearing such news, and becoming frightened that the king would remark on the want of care with which he had guarded a man who had been declared mad. He entreated me earnestly to make my best efforts to cure the princess. Meanwhile he wrote to the king about the case, and told him that a demon had entered the body of the holy man, and the princess had been mortally wounded with a dagger. But a Frank doctor named Hakim Niccolao had attended her, and held out hopes that she would be well in a short time. This event brought me to the notice of many nobles who were in the camp. For on the matter becoming public, my friends wrote to their acquaintances, and the princess herself, as soon as she was well, wrote to the king that 1 had perfectly restored her, and she gave me a handsome present.

  Another case occurred which made me famous throughout the kingdom. It was as follows: Fida,e Khan ordered the beheadal of a powerful rebel, who plundered in all directions in the king's territories; he

  was brother-in-law of the qdzl of Labor. His name was Theka Araham (? Thfka,Arain) a»cl he was extremely fat. I thought it was a good chance of laying in a stock of human fat, procuring it from the man and his companion, who also was very obese. I spoke to Fida,e Khan, pointing out the necessity I was under of having this medicament. As the opportunity was favourable, would he give orders to remove the fat from these two condemned men ? He then ordered the kotwal to have this done, and in compliance with the order, men were sent to carry out the operation. I thus acquired eighteen sirs —that is, five hundred and four ounces purified.

  This matter caused great talk in the city, and the qazi, assembling many of the learned, sent men to complain to the king against Fida,e Khan, for protecting a Frank. On his behalf he had committed the sacrilege of removing the fat of a Mahomedan, a man who read the Quran and yet had been thus afflicted. According to the strict law the Frank deserved to be burnt, but as Fida.e Khan declined to listen to argument, they were forced to come to His Majesty to present a complaint and demand justice.

  I was warned of the plot, and spoke to Fida,e Khan about the qazi's intentions. He sent at once a messenger to court, to report that the population of Lahor were restless, and if there came any complaint about the beheaded man, Thlka,Arain, it must not be listened to, for the qdzi and others had been his supporters. This was enough to secure that on the arrival of the complaint at court, where many had clad themselves in mourning to present the petition, the king should send them away after saying very little, with the remark : " Caziey zemi, bessare zemi " (Qazaya-i-zamn bar-sar-i-zamin). This means: "Cases about land are settled on the land itself." Thus I was left unharmed for that once, and freed from a great persecution that would have cost me my life.

  God was pleased to deliver me once more after

  several months. For there came a relation of the beheaded man expressly to kill me. By a lucky chance he came when I was prescribing for the sick, distributing medicine, adding alms for those in want. He came into my dlwan with his sword and shield, leaving his spear and horse at my door. Without any salutation he sat down in front of me and watched my movements, the humanity with which I spoke to the sick, and the liberality with which I succoured the needy. Nor did 1 fail from time to time to observe the face of this new guest, without knowing either who he was or what he wanted. I wondered at his wrathful countenance, his head-shakings, and other signs of a man in anger. Having got rid of my patients, I asked him more than once if he wanted anything in which I could be of use, but he returned no answer. At length there being no one else left, he asked me if I knew the cause of his coming. I replied 1 did not. He said he had come resolved to kill me because I had removed the fat from his uncle. But finding that in my hands it was being well employed, he felt satisfied at making my acquainta
nce. He rose to his feet, refusing to eat, or take betel, or listen to my words. He could have killed me quite safely, but God was pleased to change his intentions, in reward for the little or much that I managed to do for the poor who were in ill-health.

  The qazi did not find it so easy to forget his anger against me. Fida,e Khan did not stay much longer in Lahor. He (the qdzi} then sent someone for me, and on my presenting myself he was very affectionate, but did all he knew to trip me up in my talk. He began a conversation about the fat of his brother-in-law, asking me if ever I gave such fat to be taken for a medicine, and for what complaints it was used. I answered, in ignorance of his maliciousness, that fat was not administered by the mouth, but served simply to make ointments in nervous disorders. It was lucky that I answered thus, for if I had said that the fat

  was also given by the mouth, it would have been enough to afford him an opening for planning a fresh persecution against me, and ordering me to be tortured.

  It appeared to him most barbarous to prescribe human fat to be taken, imagining I did this to make mock of the Mahomedans, by getting one man to eat the fat of another. After this, I fell into conversation with him and discovered his malice, and saw the kindness God had done me in making me reply as above. For it was this which had delivered me from death. But he who came to catch me got caught himself. On his demanding of me some remedy for a cough he had, I told him of various drugs; among other things I said that, as he was an old man, human " myrrh" would be good. He answered that he had already taken it, but it had done him not the least good. Upon this, with a smile, I said openly to him, that to me it did not seem much of a thing to give human fat through the mouth by way of medicine, when at the same time he had no scruple in eating human flesh and fat. For that is what is meant by human " myrrh." He also could not help laughing, and told me that such medicines were to be taken secretly only, so that no one knew.